


never really cared

by smartbuckley



Series: Buddie Tumblr Prompts [11]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Bobby Nash - Freeform, Gen, Henrietta Wilson - Freeform, Howie 'Chimney" Han, Mean Team, Mentions of Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Protective Maddie Buckley, eddie diaz - Freeform, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-13 03:01:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21487252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smartbuckley/pseuds/smartbuckley
Summary: For the following tumblr prompt:Buck prompt: buck decides to throw a huge dinner party to in some way make up for the lawsuit drama and everyone agrees to come. So he goes all out, cooking up a storm, getting his place cleaned up and not relaxing because he’s so excited. Maddie comes over early to help him and together they wait. It’s an hour past the time buck gave and still no one has shown up. After waiting another hour, Buck realizes no one is coming and tried to hide his tears. After Maddie leaves, she is pissed off
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley
Series: Buddie Tumblr Prompts [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1528010
Comments: 47
Kudos: 413





	never really cared

Growing up, Buck was always forced to attend dinner parties - his parents weren’t famous, not really, but they had money, and they had class, and they were well known in their city - well enough that they threw dinner parties often, and made Buck and his sister dress up just as often. He didn’t mind too much, not until he was a teenager and Maddie was gone and he just wanted to get out and do things on his own and his father was holding him back.

At that point, he hated dinner parties, and when he left Pennsylvania for good, he always swore to himself that he would never throw a  _ Classic Buckley Dinner Party _ . And he kept that promise, even when he went to dinner parties other people threw, even when Maddie came home - the promise was kept, and he let no one he considered his new family know about how well he could throw a dinner party.

And then the lawsuit happened, and Buck wanted to apologize to everyone. He  _ had _ to apologize to everyone, so he did just that, and they all seemed to forgive him. And he broke his promise, because he always believed a good dinner party was a good way for family to get together again. He had texted Maddie, asked for her help, and when she was on board, he had asked everyone else, and they had all agreed and Buck was --

He was thankful that he had broken his promise to himself, because the opportunity to have his family all together again, eating food he made, laughing and growing better together after his mistakes was just too good to pass up, admittedly. 

That had been a week ago, and now was the night of the dinner and Buck, admittedly, had a whole new appreciation for his mom and everyone else who was involved in preparing for the dinner parties he went to while growing up. He had cleaned the entirety of his apartment -- vacuumed, washed the floors, laundried the curtains, fluffed pillows,  _ everything _ and that was all before he started cooking.

When it came to the actual cooking, he made foods everyone liked, even looking up Mexican dishes for Eddie. With Maddie’s help, most of the food was cooked ahead of time during the week, though the day of, he had cooked a large turkey and chicken, potatoes, stuffing, all of the works.

Buck knew his parents would be proud if they could see him now (though they wouldn’t), especially since he had finished setting everything up with time to spare, something he thought would be practically impossible. He was so excited about everyone getting together that he was practically jumping on the spot, Maddie laughing at him once he had been dressed for the night, with a fond shake of her head while he stuck his tongue out at her.

As the time ticks closer to when people are supposed to be arriving, Buck feels like a puppy, looking at the door with anticipation, a grin on his face as the minutes go by. Eventually though, he stops moving around in his excitement, looking at the door with his head tilted as five minutes go by, then ten, then twenty, and eventually, it’s almost an hour and Buck doesn’t know how to feel. No one has arrived, and people confirmed they were coming. Taking his phone out, he quickly scrolls through the texts, nodding his head when he sees Bobby had sent him a text earlier in the afternoon saying they were coming.

So where were they?

“Do you think their shift ran late?” Buck asks, but he’s surprised to see his sister frowning angrily at the door, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“No,” she replies, tapping her heels on the flooring in his apartment, causing Buck to frown.

“Oh. Okay. What’s wrong?” He asks, nearly jumping backwards when she turns to look at him in surprise before it turns into something soft, something akin to pity, something Buck never likes to see on his sister’s face.

“Buck, sweetie, I don’t think they’re coming,” Maddie whispers and Buck opens and closes his mouth for a minute before going to the couch and falling onto it.

“Oh,” he whispers, arms wrapping around his waist as he looks out the window, a soft sigh escaping from him.

“But, I’ll be back. I just realized I forgot to do something,” She adds, stepping closer to her brother and kissing the top of his head as he hums in acknowledgement but says nothing else.

* * *

As Maddie made her way to the firestation, she felt like there was a fire in her veins with how angry she was. She had texted Howie on her way over, asking if everyone was there, and for the first time, was thankful that her knowledge of the dinner party wasn’t something she shared with her boyfriend because oh, she wanted to rip every single one of them a new one.

When she finally made it to the station, Maddie found herself taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down, though it didn’t work too well, before entering the building and heading upstairs, where she could hear everyone laughing. Just hearing that made her blood boil, the memory of Buck looking devastated over no one showing while trying to act like it didn’t affect him moving her forward. 

She knew instantly when everyone realized she was there, mainly due to the clacking of her sandals against the tile of the stairs, but also because Howie had leaned over the railing and grinned at her. As  _ much _ as she wanted to grin back at him, she was still too angry on behalf of her brother, feeling like  _ someone _ had to stick up for him.

And she knew that Howie saw the anger on her face immediately because the look on his face would have been comical. But in that moment, Maddie was too focused on telling everyone just what she thought about them and where they could shove it for hurting her baby brother.

Folding her arms in front of her chest, she stared at each of them with narrowed eyes, smirking inwardly as she saw them shift uncomfortably from where she was sitting. She couldn’t help but feel a sick satisfaction when she noticed just how much they were squirming and took the scene in for another minute before letting out a breath.

“Do you know how excited Buck was to have you guys come tonight?” She questions, her voice cold while everyone flinches. “Growing up, we were forced to go to dinner parties, you know. And Buck  _ hated _ them. Ended up resenting them, causing him to get into fights with our dad. When he moved out, he made a promise to himself that he would  _ never _ throw a dinner party, and he broke that promise, for  _ you guys _ .” Maddie adds on, glaring at each person as her foot began to tap on the floor, noting how Howie looks down at it with a grimace.

“Tonight was supposed to be a happy night for him, you know. The final part of his apology. He made all of your favorite dishes, too. Even looked up Mexican recipes for you, Eddie,” Maddie states, watching as Eddie flinches backwards, and she can’t help but smirk at that, knowing it was mostly because of just how close the two of them had been before all hell broke loose. 

“He was going to apologize, and then he was going to explain himself, and then he was going to tell you that he was okay to do light duty, and he had understood where you were coming from. But none of you even decided to give him a chance. Why?” Maddie asks, trying to hold back a sob as she remembers how excited Buck had been. No one answers, and Maddie can’t help but shake her head as she begins to feel extremely disappointment in the team Buck considers family.

“He considers you family, you know. And you guys don’t realize just how important that is to Buck. All he wanted was to get back to you. And you forget that he had  _ no one _ . None of you came to visit him in the hospital after his crush injury. It was just Carla, Ali and myself. None of you visited or texted him after Ali broke up with him, or when he was forced to stay in one spot. He considers you family, but  _ none of you _ treat him like that.” Maddie snaps, shaking her head once more.

“And the shitty thing is, the moment you guys act like you care for Buck, he’d take you back in a heartbeat because of how much he loves you. And he wouldn’t tell you about how much your actions have  _ hurt _ him.” Maddie adds with a scoff, wiping her eyes as she watches Hen open and close her mouth before looking down.

“So that’s why I’m here,” Maddie says, standing more straight than before, “I’m here to tell you that if you want Evan in your life, you guys seriously need to take a step back and see how you’re treating him in comparison to everyone else. He’s not a dumb puppy you can take advantage of. He’s someone who has human emotions, and is fragile, and is looking for a family. He’s someone whose been abused, used and felt dirty. He’s someone who is looking for validation, and he looks for it from you guys.So you want back in his life? Apologize. Think about what you’ve done, apologize, and mean it. Because if you don’t, or you continue treating him this way, you’re going to lose him,” Maddie finishes, stepping backwards when everyone looks up at her.

“Now, I’ll be leaving, because I need to help Buck clean everything up. I hope you think about what I said,” she finishes, shaking her head when Howie tries to follow her, showing him just how disappointed she truly is with him.

She knows that if Buck ever finds out about the things she told the team, he’ll feel hurt and betrayed, no doubt similar to how the team felt when it came to the lawsuit, but unlike them, she knows that her brother would understand and wouldn’t hold her hostage for it, either.

And with that thought, she makes her way to her car, and then back to Buck’s apartment, because she  _ knows _ he’s going to need help, especially once he breaks down when everything sinks in for the man.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this little one-shot. I love Maddie and Buck sibling bonding so this was fun to write, especially protective Maddie. And obviously, there were a few relationship hints, with Madney and Buddie, so while I know it's not completely what you're used to from me, it is something I'm proud of, and hope it was enough for y'all. As always, comments and constructive criticism is love. Find me on my tumblr @ smartbuckley.


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